Kelvin Benjamin Must Live Up to 1st-Round Pick for Panthers to Make Playoffs

To say free agency was not kind to the Carolina Panthers receiving corps would be an understatement.

Now, as the Panthers prepare to defend their NFC South title, there's going to be a ton of pressure on the team's first-round pick in 2014 to grow up in a hurry.

As in, like right now.

After watching nearly the entire receiving group depart the team in free agency (including longtime leader Steve Smith), and without making an impact move of their own to address it, wide receiver was without question a primary focus for the Panthers in the draft.

It came as little surprise then when the team selected Florida State's Kelvin Benjamin at No. 28, and so far at least, things are going to plan.

As David Newton of ESPN reports, Benjamin was the star of the team's recent rookie camp. After a particularly impressive leaping catch over two defenders, Proehl waxed poetic about the youngster's NFL potential:

That's what he brings. He can make great catches like that because of his size. A normal person is not going to make that catch. With his reach, he's probably 11 feet, 12 feet in the air making that catch. Other guys may not have an opportunity to touch the ball, let alone catch it.

You look at him, if he can grow and develop into the receiver I think he can be, he's going to a huge asset for Cam [Newton].

Proehl wasn't alone in his esteem for Benjamin either. General manager Dave Gettleman also came away impressed, according to Ross Tucker of Sirius XM NFL Radio (h/t Josh Alper of Pro Football Talk):

When I watched him, I thought I was watching a young Plaxico [Burress]. He’s a better athlete than people realize, he plays faster than a lot people think and he made some ‘OMG’ catches in the rookie minicamp. He’s talented, he has good focus, he learns well and it’s important to him. It’s really important to him.

Of course, one would expect a team to be talking up its first-round pick, but in this case, the Panthers really need this to be more than coachspeak.

For starters, the rest of the Carolina depth chart at receiver isn't exactly a cast of world-beaters.

Carolina Panthers Receivers

Player

NFL Seasons

Most Yds.

Most TDs

1K Years

J. Cotchery

10

1130 (2007)

10 (2013)

1

J. Avant

8

679 (2011)

3 (2009)

0

T. Underwood

5

440 (2013)

4 (2013)

0

Per NFL.com

Yes, Jerricho Cotchery caught 10 touchdown passes in 2013 for the Pittsburgh Steelers, but he is a 31-year-old slot receiver whose best football is behind him.

He's also the only receiver with a 1,000-yard receiving season on his resume, and that was in 2007.

Outside tight end Greg Olsen, the cupboard was pretty bare prior to Benjamin's arrival. The Panthers don't just need Benjamin to be a receiver.

They need him to be the receiver.

To Benjamin's credit, the physical tools certainly appear to be there. The 6'5" size and long arms. As Rob Rang of CBS Sports put it before the draft, the "gliding speed and short-area quickness to create some separation and be a terror in jump-ball situations, especially in the red zone."